Pressure vacuum stacker



Y K. F. ZYVBER 3,101,942

PRESSURE VACUUM STACKER Aug. 27, 1963 Filed Sept. 29, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. KENNETH F ZYBER. BY

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 27, F ZY PRESSURE VACUUM STACKER Filed Sept. 29, 1961 4 SheetsSheet 2 INVENTOR. KENNETH E ZYBER.

A TVTORNEY.

K. F. ZYBER Aug. 27, 1963 PRESSURE VACUUM STACKER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 29, 1961 INVENTOR. KENNETH F. ZYBER.

A T TORNEY A 27, 1963 K. F. ZYBER PRESSURE VACUUM STACKER Filed Sept. 29, 1961 4 Sheets-$heet 4 Fig. 8.

VACUUM PRESSURE INVENTOR.

KENNETH E ZYBER.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent M 3,101,942 PRESSURE VACUUM STACKER Kenneth F. Zyber, Plymouth, Mich, assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Sept. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 141,839 3 Claims. (Cl. 271-68) This invention relates generally to sheet transporting apparatus and particularly to sheet stacking mechanism.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved sheet stacking mechanism of a character to eifect positive control over the feeding of sheets into and Within a stacking bin so as to insure proper stacking of the sheets.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved slheet stacking device which will properly transport and stack paper sheets of diiferent weight, size, thickness and flexibility.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet stacking device in which a stacking bin side wall is constructed in part by a sheet feeder in association with a sheet controlled air pressure system which effects the holding of the sheets to and the disengagement of the sheets from the sheet feeder.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sheet stacking device of the type for stacking sheets on edge within a bin in a manner to insure that the trailing edge of a stacked sheet is held flat against the preceding sheet so as to avoid having the leading edge of the next fed sheet position behind said trailing edge.

More specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved check stacking device in which a porous or air pervious belt forms in part a check stacking bin in which the pressure of air directed through the belt is alternately changed under the control of a check responsive valve to first apply a negative pressure to hold the check to the belt and then a positive pressure to disengage the check and move the latter broadside against the stack.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet stacking device embodying features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the device;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 1

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line 66 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is another fragmentary sectional view, taken along the line 77 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly broken away to show certain details of construction, and

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration of a control system of the sheet stacking device.

In the drawings there is shown a portion of an apparatus for sorting sheets of paper, such as bank checks, the apparatus comprising, in general, an elongated support or bed It), a guide or raceway 12 defining a path of check travel, and a plurality of like check stacking devices 14, of which only one is shown. The raceway 12 and the check stacking devices .14 are mounted on the bed 10, the raceway 12 extending longitudinally of the bed near what may be termed the back of the apparatus and the check stacking devices being located toward the front of the apparatus in spaced apart relation, longitudinally of the bed. Preferably, the bed 10 is inclined from the back of the apparatus downwardly to the front and is made up of a number of contiguous rear plates 16 and a num- 3,1 t) LMZ Patented Aug. 27, 1%63 her of contiguous front plates 18 with the latter offset upwardly from the plane of the former, as at 20, FIGS. 1 and 3. For a detail description of the check sorting a paratus, reference may be had to the patent to John G. Smith, Number 2,970,836, issued February 7, 1961 for Item Handling Apparatus.

The raceway or path of travel of the checks is defined by a pair of spaced apart parallel rails 22 and 24 between which a check, as at 26, is fed edgewise and at high velocity to the check stacking device 14. Any suit-able check feeding means may be employed, such as a driven belt 28 arranged with its feed side above and parallel to the raceway 12 in cooperative feed relationship with a plurality of freely rotating rollers 30. As is shown more clearly in FIG. 1, the raceway rail 22 follows around the periphery of the end one of the rollers 30 in spaced relation thereto and then extends forwardly, as at 32, at an acute angle to the raceway proper 12 to direct sheets singly into a bin 34 of the sheet stacking device 14. The roller 3% forms a bight with a pressure roller 38. Adjacent the bin 34 there is a second pair of feed rollers including a driven roller 40 and a cooperating pressure roller 42, similar to pressure roller 38. The pressure rollers 38 and 42 are carried respectively by levers 44 and 46 which are pivoted on a support 48 and yleldingly biased into engagement respectively with rollers 30 and 40 by suitable coil springs 50.

Extending between the feed rollers 30, 38 and 40, 42,

the raceway rail 22 has a transversely rounded or curvedend portion 52 which terminates substantially at the entrance, as at 54, to the bin 34, in registry with one end of a stationary wall member 56, which, in part, forms one side of the bin 34. The curvature of the rail 22 causes checks, in traversing said rail, to assume a similar curvature, the purpose being to stiffen the paper during this part of the check travel. At the rear endthereof, the bin side wall 56 has a transverse curvature conforming to the curvature of the rail end portion 52, the curvature of Wall member 56 progressively diminishing to a flat end portion 58 which is bent so as to be in a plane normal to the bin end wall 40. An upright channel member 60,

rigidly secured to base plate 18, is interposed in the bin end wall 4% and has a leg 62 to which the flat end portion 58 of wall member 56 is secured, such as by welding. A resilient check bumper 64, retained around three sides thereof within and by the channel member 60, is provided to decrease damage to the leading edges of the checks. I x

A movable back-up plate 66 forms the other side of the bin 34 and is movable broadside away from the stationary bin side wall 56 under the pressure of accumulating checks within the bin. The rear end of the back-up plate 66 carries a roller 68 which is guidedin a channel guide member 70, and the front end of the back-up plate carries a bushing 72 which is slidably supported on a guide rod 7 4 which in turn is supported by the flanged ends of the bracket 42. A cord 76 has one end thereof attached to the back-up plate 66 and extending over a guide pulley 78 has the other end attached to a weight 80 for yieldingly urging the back-up plate toward the bin side wall 56.

In order to provide for positive control of the checks within the bin 34, as opposed to free flight discharge of checks into the bin, 1 construct the bin Wall 56 to include a moving sheet feeding section in the form of the feed side 82 of an endless belt 84-, the belt being air pervious so that negative air pressure or air pressure less than atmospheric pressure can be applied therethrough to hold a check to the belt, and alternately, positive air pressure or air under greater than atmospheric pressure can be applied to disengage the check and blow it toward the back-up plate 66, against the sheet stack. To. this purpose, the wall member 56 is provided with a rectangular opening or slot 86 which extends longitudinally of the bin and receives the feed side 82 of the belt 84-, the feed side of the belt projecting slightly beyond the inner surface of the side wall member 56 in broadside parallel relation thereto. At opposite ends of the slot 86, the belt 84 travels about idler guide pulleys 87 and 88, located outwardly of the bin side wall member 56, and the belt also preferably travels about a driven pulley 90 and an idler pulley 92. As shown, the idler pulley 92 is movably mounted for adjusting the belt tension. An electric motor 04- has its driving shaft suitably coupled to the shaft 95 of the driving pulley 90 and operates to continuously drive the feed belt 84.

Mounted on the base plate 18, between the idler pulleys 86 and 88, there is provided a hollow head member 96 of a check holder which head, as illustrated in FIG. 9, is connectable under the control of a two-way valve 98 to either a source 100 of air under positive pressure, or to a source 102 of air under negative pressure. The valve 98 may be an electrically operable, or solenoid valve having the usual induction coil 104, and a pair of integral and opposite valve elements or members 105, 105, the valve members normally being in the positions shown, establishing communication between the interior of head 96 and the positive pressure source 100 and closing communication between said head and the negative pressure source 102. A switch element or photoelectric cell 106 and a light source or lamp 108 may be provided to control the valve members 105, 105 in response to the presence of a check enroute to the bin 34. As shown in FIG. 1, the photoelectric cell 106 and the lamp 108 are mounted on the bed plate 16 on opposite sides respectively of the end portion 52 of raceway rail 22 and externally of the bin 34 or anterior of the bin with respect to the direction of check travel. An aperture 110 through the rail end portion 52 normally allows the light from lamp 108 to strike and energize the cell 106 which maintains the solenoid coil 104 energized and consequently the valve members 105, 105 in their normal positions shown. When the leading edge of a check blocks the light from striking the photoelectric cell, the cell is deenergized, resulting in movement of the valve members 105, 105 to their other positions which disconnects the head 6 from the air source 100 of positive pressure and connects the head 96 to the air source 102 of negative pressure. As a consequence, the check is forced and held by the pressure diiferential against the air pervious belt 84 and is carried by the belt toward the end wall of bin 34. When the check has moved entirely past the photoelectric cell 106, the light from lamp 108 again energizes the cell 106 which energizes solenoidv coil 104 to reverse the positions of the valve members 105, 105 whereupon the air of positive pressure blows the check away from the feed belt 84 and holds the check against the stack.

The circuit of the photoelectric cell 106 is a well known circuit utilizing a triode 111 having its cathode connected to ground through the photoelectric cell 106 and its anode or plate connected to a suitable potential by a conductor containing a relay coil R with a parallel capacitor 116. A bias 113 provides for the proper potential on the triode grid so that the relay coil R will be energized, in the well known manner, when the light from lamp 108 is being received by the photoelectric cell. The relay coil R has a pair of normally open contacts R in series with the solenoid coil 105. As a consequence, when the light from lamp 108 is blocked from the cell 106 by a check passing therebetween, energization of relay coil R is discontinued which results in contacts R closing and energizing solenoid coil 104, which occurs before the check reaches the bin. Upon the energization of the solenoid coil 10 1, the valve members 105, 105' are moved to discontinue communication between the head 96 and the source 100 of positive air pressure and establish communication between the head and the source 102 of negative air pressure. The check is now forced broadside against the feed 4 belt 84 to be held and fed thereby toward the bin end wall until the trailing edge of the check .passes the cell 106 whereupon the valves 105, 105 return to their normal positions shown with the air of positive pressure blowing the check away from the belt against the stack.

The head 96 has a fiat wall 112 disposed toward and in contact with the inner side of the lead side 32 of belt 34. In the wall 112 there is provided a plurality of air jets or ports 114 which are preferably arranged in two horizontal rows with the ports of one row in offset or staggered relation with respect to the ports of the other row. In the present construction, the bin sheet feed belt 84 is made air pervious by the provision therein of a plurality of holes 116, and these holes are arranged in two rows and in staggered relation to register with the air ports 114 of head 84. As illustrated in FIG. 8, the belt holes 116 are elongated longitudinally of the belt 84 to a length such that there will always be open communication between the holes and the interior of the head 98 as the belt is driven through its path of travel.

Mounted on the bracket 42 adjacent the fiat end portion 58 of the bin wall 56 there is an upright spindle or shaft 117 on which is fixed a plurality of feed rollers 118 which have their peripheries projecting through slots into the stacking bin 34. The nollers 118 are driven to rotate at surface speeds less than the surface speed of the feed belt 84 and thus tend to slow down the checks. In addition, the rollers 118 function to return checks, that rebound from the bumper 64, to the end of the bin.

Any suitable means may be provided for driving the several check feed rollers, such as the driving connections shown in FIG. 3. Below the bed 10 there is a driven pulley 120 afiixed to the lower end of the shaft, as at 122, of feed roller 40, driven from a source of power by a connecting belt 124. Also afiixed to the shaft 122 is another pulley 126 which is connected by a driving elt 128 to drive a pulley 130 and rotate a vertical shaft 132 journalled in a mounting member 134 on the underside of bed plate 18. Aflixed onto shaft 132 there is a gear 136 that meshes with a gear 138 on the lower end of the spindle 117 to rotate the rollers 113.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sheet transporting apparatus in which sheets are fed singly and edgewise along a path of travel, a sheet stacking device comprising an upright wall to form an extension of the path of sheet travel and in part one side of a sheet stacking bin, a second upright wall forming the end of the bin, a movable back-up plate forming the other side of the bin, a hollow head having a side wall member projecting broadside within an opening in said first-mentioned wall and elongated in the direction of sheet travel, said head side wall member having a plurality of air ports, an endless belt member arranged to travel broadside within said opening over said ports in a direction to move a sheet toward said end wall and having a plurality of ports to establish communication between said head and a sheet, the ports in one of said members being elongated in the direction of sheet travel to overlap adjacent ones of the ports in the other of said members, a valve element in communication with said head member, said valve element normally in a position connecting said head member to a source of pressurized air and movable to another position to disconnect said head from said source of pressurized air and connect the head to a vacuum source, and a control element operatively connected to effect movement of said valve element to said another position during the travel of the sheet past a point anterior to the bin.

2. In a sheet transporting apparatus in which paper sheets are fed singly and edgewise along a path of travel, a sheet stacking device comprising an upright wall to form an extension of the path of sheet travel and in part one side of a sheet stacking bin, a second upright wall forming the end wall of the bin, a movable back-up plate forming the other side of the bin, said first-mentioned 5 Wall having an opening therethrough elongated in the direction of sheet travel, a 'hollow head member having a Wall thereof positioned within the elongated opening of said first-mentioned Wall and having two rows of apertures with the apertures of one row in staggered relationship to the apertures of the other row, a valve element in a position normally connecting said head member to a source of pressurized air and movable to another position to disconnect said head from said source and connect said head to a vacuum source, a control member activated by a sheet appnoaching the entrance to the bin.

and operatively connected to control said valve element, a driven belt overlying the wall of said head in broadside relationship thereto and in part to form said upright wall, said belt having two rows of apertures elongated longitudinally of said belt with the apertures of one row in staggered relationship to the apertures of the other row to maintain communication between the interior of said head and said bin.

3. In a sheet transporting apparatus in which sheets are fed singly and edgewise along a path of travel, a sheet handling device comprising a driven endless belt with the outer surface thereof to receive and move a sheet along the path of travel, a hollow head member having a wall positioned fiat against the inner surface of said belt, said wall having two rows of apertures therethrough, a valve element normally in -a position connecting the interior of said head member to .a source of compressed air and movable to .a position to disconnect said head from the source of compressed air and connect said head member to a vacuum source, said belt having two rows of apertures with the apertures of one of the rows in staggered relation to the apertures of the other of the rows and overlying respectively the rows of apertures in said wall, said second-mentioned rows of apertures elongated longitudinally to said belt to maintain continuous communication of the belt apertures with the interior of said head, and a sheet activated control element controlling said valve element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,107,254 Blackford Aug. 18, 1914 2,680,615 Edgar June 8, 1954 2,813,637 Perry et a1. Nov. 19, 1957 2,895,552 Pomper et 'al. July 21, 1959 

1. IN A SHEET TRANSPORTING APPARATUS IN WHICH SHEETS ARE FED SINGLY AND EDGEWISE ALONG A PATH OF TRAVEL, A SHEET STACKING DEVICE COMPRISING AN UPRIGHT WALL TO FORM AN EXTENSION OF THE PATH OF SHEET TRAVEL AND IN PART ONE SIDE OF A SHEET STACKING BIN, A SECOND UPRIGHT WALL FORMING THE END OF THE BIN, A MOVABLE BACK-UP PLATE FORMING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BIN, A HOLLOW HEAD HAVING A SIDE WALL MEMBER PROJECTING BROADSIDE WITHIN AN OPENING IN SAID FIRST-MENTIONED WALL AND ELONGATED IN THE DIRECTION OF SHEET TRAVEL, SAID HEAD SIDE WALL MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF AIR PORTS, AN ENDLESS BELT MEMBER ARRANGED TO TRAVEL BROADSIDE WITHIN SAID OPENING OVER SAID PORTS IN A DIRECTION TO MOVE A SHEET TOWARD SAID END WALL AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF PORTS TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID HEAD AND A SHEET, THE PORTS IN ONE OF SAID MEMBERS BEING ALONGATED IN THE DIRECTION OF SHEET TRAVEL TO OVERLAP ADJACENT ONES OF THE PORTS IN THE OTHER OF SAID MEMBERS, A VALVE ELEMENT IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID 